President Trump Should Reconsider Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

Wednesdays with Walker

President Trump
Should Reconsider Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

If
President Donald Trump wants to protect good-paying, family-supporting jobs in
America, especially here in Wisconsin, then he should reconsider the
administration’s position on tariffs.

Over
the past two weeks, I was honored to join the employees at United Alloy and
Seneca Foods in Janesville, and Bemis Company in Oshkosh.

While
touring their facilities, I asked them about the steel and aluminum tariffs
recently announced by the President. They said it would disrupt the market and
many of their customers were concerned about the negative impact.

We've
heard similar things from other great Wisconsin employers such as MillerCoors,
Harley-Davidson, and Milwaukee Tool.

In
addition to overall concerns about the market, employers here in Wisconsin face
some very specific problems. Bemis Company, based in Neenah, provides a great
example as to why the tariffs on aluminum will cost American jobs instead of
protecting them. Bemis employs about 9,000 people in America. Of that, about
5,000 are in Wisconsin, with others in places such as Indiana, Ohio and
Pennsylvania.

Bemis
uses ultra-thin foil of gauges less than 0.0003 inches thick for things such as
ketchup packets, cream cheese packaging, powdered food and beverages, and
medical device packages. Only one producer of this converter foil is in
America. The total output of that entire company cannot meet Bemis’ current
requirements, let alone those of similar companies throughout Wisconsin and across
America. Plus, that company is not able to produce the ultra-thin foil gauges
needed for much of Bemis’ and other companies' core work.

So,
if these tariffs go into place, it will not only cause major disruption in the
market and drive prices up, it will likely cause layoffs and plant closures
with jobs and operations shifting to other countries. For example, a company in
Wisconsin would likely look at its costs and realize it would be easier to
close operations here and move the equipment to Canada, where no tariff
is on the ultra-thin foil. Then it could make products that will not face a
tariff coming into the American market.

Bemis
officials met with me last June to explain their specific concerns. Other
Wisconsin employers have similar issues.

Last
summer, I took their concerns to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. He
understood the issue and assured me they would try to address these very real
concerns. Unfortunately, the plan announced recently does not do that.

The
goal of the Trump administration, I believe, is to protect American workers.
Unfortunately, the practical application here of the tariff on steel and
aluminum would lead to jobs being lost in Wisconsin and moved, not to other
states, but to other countries.

That is why I respectfully ask the president of
the United States to reconsider this policy.